Life is Short & Time is Ticking

There have been many seasons of my soul. Now, I’m in the last third of my life. Everyone has a story…this is mine.

I grew up in the wind-swept state of North Dakota. After decades spent in California and Michigan, my retired, snowbird life is in Tucson, Arizona with my wife and our eleven-year-old multipoo Izzy. We spend summers traveling and are grateful for that privilege every single day.

My coming of age was spent in the military: I served in the Army and Air Force Reserves, and four years active duty in the Marine Corps. Afterward, I earned a bachelor’s degree with the help of the GI Bill.

I have a beautiful daughter and granddaughter. Many of my stories will be about mother-daughter relationships, having grown up with a mentally ill mother.

I’ve also lived a 31-year life of heterosexual privilege. I’ll share my experiences coming out of the closet for being gay (easy) and coming out of the “having a mentally ill mother” closet (hard). Both my writing and my daughter played pivotal roles in those journeys.

I’ve always wanted to write, and I’ve had three blogs. The first was when I was in real estate as a way to educate buyers and highlight homes. The second began in 2018 when I reclaimed my birth name and documented my participation in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I fast drafted a memoir which, ironically, didn’t have my mother in it at all. The third began last summer when I wanted to share our snowbird travels somewhere other than Facebook. It seemed cumbersome to keep them both up to date, so I transitioned to Substack.

I’ve been publishing two posts a week, and one is usually a travel highlight. Once we hit the road in the spring, finding time to write is always hard. I’ll try to post at least once a week. I also want to share other people’s stories, with a focus on wisdom gained and lessons learned.

Thanks for coming along on the ride.